Bootcamp vs Parallels for Windows

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I have a macbook pro and need to be able to run windows. I'm either going to get Leopard with Bootcamp or Parallels. Does anyone know the pros and cons of using either? And in the case of Bootcamp, once the partition is created to run windows is there a way to remove it? (Since I only need to be able to run windows for around 6 months)
 
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Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro (late 2011) Latest 10.12.5, 2,4 Ghz, Intel Core i7, RAM 16G GB 1333 MHz 1TB SATA Dis
Good question! I have just bought a MacBook and did a search and found that Boot Camp was pre-installed, I set about partitioning to install Windows but got asked for an installation disk which I never had but then got an answer to my question here which was to install Crossover which avoids using Parallels.
www.codeweavers.com/products/
However I'm still waiting an answer on how to delete the partition I set up!

I have a macbook pro and need to be able to run windows. I'm either going to get Leopard with Bootcamp or Parallels. Does anyone know the pros and cons of using either? And in the case of Bootcamp, once the partition is created to run windows is there a way to remove it? (Since I only need to be able to run windows for around 6 months)
 
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OK. Here goes.

Bootcamp
Basically, Bootcamp lets you install Windows on a separate partition running Win natively. The advantage: your Mac is now a PC. A Windows setup CD/DVD is required. Bootcamp creates a Windows driver CD for all your driver needs. Once that's done your Windows will work quite well. The disadvantage: 117,000 viruses. Spyware, malware and so on. You've got to treat it like you would any PC: with lots and lots of security software. Head over to Download.com for all your PC needs.

For BootCamp I strongly recommend smcFanControl. Increase your fan speeds before booting into Windows. The way a Mac is designed does not allow you to tinker with the fan speeds when using the Redmond O/S. Gaming will warm your box up so keep it cool that way. When you return to the Mac OS slow the speeds down.


Parallels
Parallels is A-1 software (forgive me for sounding like a shill). It runs Windows software while in the Mac OS. And, if you created a BootCamp partition then running Windows software in Mac is a breeze (BootCamp will find your Windows partition and set everything up for you!). However, certain software may have issues. I cannot give a full list, but when I tried Homeworld (the game) under a Parallels virtual box, it was a NoGo. But it worked 100% under BootCamp. I didn't try running Homeworld in Mac O/S once it was installed in XP though.

Tip: After you install Parallels your Windows boot process will go "wrong", sort of. XP will boot, but there will be a list of two different XPs to choose from. One is a standard XP, the other a Parallels enhanced version. The Parallels Enhanced version is default and doesn't work. You've got to be quick on the draw and move your cursor keys when the choices appear. This stops the timer and lets you select the standard version. Once you're in Windows you can tweak the time it takes for that menu to remain there. It is set for 0 seconds... you may want to extend that to 5 or so. How? I could tell you, but it would take all the fun out of your own search.​


Conclusion
Parallels is the only software I've ever purchased for my Mac. Everything else is either Freeware, Shareware without nags or OpenSource. But Parallels rather impressed me.
 
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<snip>I'm still waiting an answer on how to delete the partition I set up!</snip>

Assuming you're still using Mac O/S 10.4, here are the instructions.

To delete a Windows partition on a computer with a single internal disk:

  1. Start up in Mac OS X.
  2. Quit all open applications and log out any other users on your computer.
  3. Open Boot Camp Assistant.
  4. Select “Restore the startup disk to a single volume” and click Continue.

To delete a Windows partition on a computer with multiple internal disks:

  1. Start up in Mac OS X.
  2. Quit all open applications and log out any other users on your computer.
  3. Open Boot Camp Assistant.
  4. Select “Create or remove a Windows partition” and click Continue.
  5. Select the disk with Windows on it.
  6. Select “Restore to a single Mac OS partition” and click Continue.

This text is taken directly from the BootCamp PDF manual supplied with the BootCamp 1.3 setup file.

I would imagine that removing a partition would be no more difficult than that for any future version of Mac O/S. After all: it's a Mac. Simplicity and style are the watchwords. ;D

Edit: I just installed BootCamp to my 10.4.11 system. I only get the warning that BootCamp has expired. I cannot, therefore, remove the partition that way. I shall try something else and see if I can remedy the situation that way.
 
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White MacBook 1.83GHz 120GB Leopard and XP
I have both options on mine ie BootCamp and Parallels, and my advice would be, if you have limited RAM, use BC, as my MB struggles with Parallels and limited RAM (preinstalled 512MB), but BC works faster as it is not sharing RAM.

Hope that makes sense. By the way I am going to upgrade my RAM, in th near future.
 

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